Headrest mechanism for creepers



Feb. 16, 1954 B. F. SIMMONS HEADREST MECHANISM FOR CREEPERS Filed Jan.22, 1952 INVENTOR. BERT F. SIMMONS fTTOR/VEYS at n w h r tr at to thPatented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITED PATENT OF F ICE materia ism Bert teve s Wlm F? Atacama essa 22, tastes;at-a ter Glaims. 11

Ih sin en iQa rela s en w ase l limm t h ad rest fqr eePersp the timused by mechanics while workingundervehicles. Mere par cular y! the.inventionrelat sitc a he est a s ia e wit a he I. attaebe t r en l an W2,is a'ra ter ed bylthefia bihatfihllfia .adiustliill b' ii 'e' ietly ndcld ve n ly manually .012- were ahd iurtberfl s t a the head rest resvlmellt tedwith th -1. 1 ma inee e 12 than o the-head t s hfr petovthehaee warm 29 ncremen th h a (o thel i ehenicee t i l i i aeqfthePrinci al .qbie t er h invention. to m'q isl .ah edfrest steble elevatiowithree ed'tq i s. ease and .1 e t p ovid i eieet endir asii v ad u tablAline. sa d iili tmentei ele een th r obje and. advenie eei he i v nt ishefl tth th head st i su req be th a b a a Q v q s' e er 'iye e et mentof said' levers being counterbalanced by a emei tal y ce fotms to mvemen 'Qi'the h ad at the em lerine' the clevie Other objects of thepresent invention will becorne apparent upon reading the followingspecification and referring to the accompanying drawes. simila he tlifil reiereeee K resent r esneneina sari flash 9f t Several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevationof the head rest in raised position showing indot-and-dash linesthe head rest tilted to one sideand insolidlinesthehe'ad rest in normal horizontal position.

Fig.12 is'a vertical section taken substantially along the line 2?? of-Eig, 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially along the Fig. 4 is a top planof the head rest and a portion of the creeper in collapsed position withthe head plate and cushion removed.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the head rest and a portion of the creeper incollapsed position with the cushion removed from the head plate.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, there is provided a creeperIll mounted on casters l I, said creeper Ill being of the conventionaltype usedby mechanics to position themselves under vehicles whilerepairs are being made. Attached adjacent one end of said creeper is abase plate ll of the shape illustrated in the drawings exaw fieh ma bized by t ac s rin s o that th eeeiti n 9 the h ad l se d; tehe may twilin tr nsversel a th reeper- Risi y fixe he s d b se l i e i e 2 9 er eed' ruid we Bisai e iqe ay in p eier ly formed o an le bar hav i oneflang i l perp nd cular to i said base.

we ni b se ate- "Th r is u the er is a. eian ll a hea 21% li l h in v lWi th l h l l thenth the ether. these 6. arallel 13 distance between theedges "of said horizontal flanges l6. Said head plate bears on its topsurface a ce ar us n l8. neo which the. ea or n o th m c a rest ea 91 l1' me e y Ibeiee concave s a bette tocqmme ete e hea orneekof'thejmechan cn he un rside of t headnlete a a n h ne- 9 f et s a pairofs a edrapar de ea li ell ss a l; sa d g ein ns tured erihe re ertiqnpin a, the axis of which is transverse. to said] guideways th omer ofsaid headp ate die-so 1y .oppo-sitefihfil is provided a secondpair of23lapertured for the receptionof. a second pin 2L4.

,One' end 'oflifirst lever zli'is fi red to said first pin 2'? and t ethe en Qf i fi l e 2. s PW- e a v c n cte t sai a a e 1 b mean at Pinzll hich ex en a m s' h weense l wef and i l h e fi e to t an r e his?which extendsbetween said guideways. Pin 29 i e ieeble' J eeeii q ne lwit iresbeei t e guide'way's; its ends being'perpendicular to its axisand its lfin th being only slightly less than'the 'distance' twfen'fianges M; ltfwill 'benotedthat levers and 2 8 cross but have noconnection and thus? b ace h te e? in ifie id s e anew 3 wbe eespin' ?li fir d with respec is as? he'e ev ne hee Plate "with e- .I diestee'beminent-sirement of pin 29 within guideways I3.

In order to control the elevation of head plate H with respect to base12, there is provided near one end of said base a ratchet bar 3|. Saidratchet is formed with a buttress thread, the angular flanks 32 of whichare inclined upwardly toward the opposite end. In order to engage saidratchet, pin 29 is milled as indicated by reference numeral 33 so as tohave a substantially vertical surface which presses against the verticalflank 34 of the buttress thread and prevents movement of pin '29 to theleft as viewed in Fig. 1. Thus,

the elevation of head plate Il may be increased by manually raisingplate I! becaus pin 29 moves readily to the right as viewed in Fig. 1,whereas lowering of said plate ll is restrained by reason of engagementof pin 29 with the vertical flanks 34 of said ratchet bar 3 I It will beobserved that ratchet 3| is formed on the upper edge of a vertical flatbar which projects up as a chine through slot 35 in base l2, the loweredge of said ratchet bar being welded to handle member 31 which extendsalong the bottom of said base. One end of said handle member is attachedto the right-hand end of the base as viewed in Fig. 1 by bolt 38. Bolt39 passes through a hole in base l2 and in handle member 31- adjacentthe left-hand end of the base, there being further provided a Spring 4|on said bolt below said handle and a nut 42 holding said spring on saidbolt. It will be seen that the spring 4| biases said ratchet bar 3|upwardly through slot 35 to engage pin 29, but when the upwardly offsetgrip portion 43 of handle 37 is depressed, ratchet bar 3| is retractedfrom engagement with pin 29, thereby permitting movement of the pin 29to the left as viewed in Fig. 1 and lowering head rest H at the manualcontrol of the operator. The right-hand end of ratchet bar 3| is notchedas indicated by numeral 44 to accommodate pin 21 when ratchet bar 3|occupies its normally upwardly spring biased position.

Fixed to first pin 22 is helical coil spring 46, one loop of whichpasses through a hole in one end of said pin 22. The opposite end ofspring 46 passes through a hole in about the mid-point of second lever28. Similarly, second coil spring 41 is attached at one endby similarmeans to second pin 24'and at its opposite end to the midpoint ofthe'first lever 26. It will be observed that head plate 11 may beinclined in either direction with respect to the horizontal by reason ofpivotal movement of pins 22, 24, '21, and 29, coil springs 46 and 41counter-balancing the inclination of head plate i7. Thus, the positionof said head rest conforms to movement of the head of the mechanicemploying the creeper, the resilient characteristics of springs 46 and41 restricting said conformation.

In order to permit the head rest to collapse with head plate I!substantially flush with horizontal flanges l6, certain of the parts arecut away to provide space in which the other parts may nest. Thus, notch48 is cut in the upper surface of ratchet bar 3| to clear pin 22 when incollapsed position, and levers 26 and 28 are notched as indicated byreference numeral 49 to clear springs 46 and 41.

In operation, the mechanic positions creeper l under the vehicle withthe head rest in collapsed position. When in position, he may manuallylift up and raise head plate I! to the proper elevation, pin 29 slidingto the right as viewed in Fig. 1 and engaging one notch of ratchet 3|,By reason of the resiliency of spring 4|. ratchet 3| is depressed inorder to allow pin 29 to drop into the proper notch. As the mechanic hasoccasion to move his head about, the inclination of head plate I1 withrespect to the horizontal conforms to his movements, coil springs 46 and41 restraining said movement. Wh n it is desired to collapse the headrest, the mechanic manually depresses grip 43 which in turn depressesratchet bar 3| and permits pin 29 to move to the left.

As above explained, cushion pillow I8 is shaped and proportioned topresent an arcuate cradle which will comfortably nest a mechanic's head.The cradle shape of the pillow will also function to prevent themechanic's head from sliding off either edge of the pillow as he tiltsor inclines the head rest from side to side.

Although I have described my invention in some detail by way ofillustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it isunderstood that certain changes and modifications may be practicedwithin the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A head rest comprising a base; a head plate; first meansinterconnecting said base and head plate; said first means comprisingfirst and second unconnected crossed levers pivotally attached toopposite ends of said head plate; said first lever being pivotallyattached to said base; said second lever being movable along said base;second means adjustably positioning said second lever in a plurality ofpositions comprising a ratchet on said base and a pin on said secondlever engageable with said ratchet in a plurality of positions; a springbiasing said pin and ratchet into mutual engagement; a handle manuallyoperable to retract said pin and ratchet from mutual engagement; andresilient means extending from said head plate to each of said leversand a concave cushion on the upper side of said head plate.

2. A head rest according to claim 1 in which said handle extends undersaid base and said ratchet extends upward as a chine through a slot insaid base.

3. A head rest according to claim 1 in which is further providedguideways on said base engaging said pin for slideable movement withrespect to said base.

BERT F. SIMMONS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 317,468 Morstatt May 5, 1885 1,327,103 Knowles Jan. 6, 19201,457,117 London et al May 29, 1923 1,706,579 Martin Mar. 26, 19292,567,341 Martin 1 Sept. 11, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date587,920 Great Britain May 8, 1947

